Dinner with the Ivashkovs
by BillieBruce
Summary: Set several years after The Indigo Spell. Sydney and Adrian have been together for some time, despite all the factors that tried to keep them apart. But when they show up at Court to meet Adrian's parents, how will everyone react to this scandalous relationship?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Several years had passed since Adrian and I finally got together at Getty Villa. We had managed to maintain a relationship, at first secretly, despite Jill, our differing races, the presence of my sister and the Alchemists. That didn't, however, mean that everything had suddenly gotten simple. Believe me, it hadn't. We still faced a lot of prejudice, mostly because I was human. I knew that there had been some rumours when Adrian was dating Rose, she was a dhampir, but this was a whole new ball park; I wasn't even the same species.

The whole species thing wasn't something that bothered me anymore, in fact I forgot about it most of the time. When I quit my job and my life with the Alchemists, I had left most of their beliefs behind. The tattoo had been broken for a while before I quit, and whilst it still remained on my cheek it served as nothing more than a reminder of my past. It wasn't a past that I particularly wanted to remember but it was my only link to my family now that my father had disowned me. Jared Sage had even sunk low enough to forbid my mother and sisters from seeing me, simply because he was so disgusted with me for being a "vamp lover."

Jill no longer needed to hide in Palm Springs as the law had finally been changed meaning that her existence wasn't quite so important to Queen Vasilisa's reign. She had, however, stayed in Palm Springs to finish her education at Amberwood Prep simply because she had so many friends and it meant that she had more time before she was forced to return to the world where she was a Moroi princess. Adrian and I had stuck around for several reasons, he was bonded to Jill and so they didn't especially like being apart but also because it was the place where we had fallen in love. I think it's always going to have a special place in our hearts. The bond was still an awkward thing that I didn't especially like to think about and made me wary about some things that Adrian and I did. Jill might have been older now but I still felt weird knowing that whatever happened between Adrian and me didn't stay between us.

Even after Jill had finished school, Adrian and I had stayed on there a little longer than the others, who had already returned to Court. Adrian had no particular desire to see his parents but I knew that he wanted to see Jill again, and I was nervous to go with him. I was fully aware that we would probably end up living there, no matter what Adrian tried to tell me about going where I was comfortable, but that didn't mean I wasn't anxious about it. The Moroi Royal Court was filled with vampires, and whilst I was fine with Adrian, I still held onto to a few of my reservations about spending time with the creatures. I had been brought up on the belief that they were evil, that I should always keep my distance; a lifelong belief was hard to shake but I was getting there.

I could no longer hide from it though, not when Adrian and I sat in the Ivaskinator, almost at the remote Pennsylvania location. I had been here only once before, and I had been a prisoner then so I wasn't entirely sure where I was going without Adrian's directions. When we finally arrived and were let in past the guardians, I really began to panic. I was surrounded by vampires now, there were no humans there apart from me (aside from the feeders but they weren't exactly with it enough to provide moral support). Adrian had always been aware of my great dislike of vampires, their magic and such, so he looked across at me.

"You're probably best parking here." Adrian gestured to a car park a little way up ahead. I pulled in and parked the Mustang before letting an uneven sigh.

"Sage, you okay?" He asked, placing a hand on my knee and squeezing gently.

"Uh, sure," I replied unsurely. "Being here, like this; it just kind of goes against everything I was taught."

"And being in a relationship with me doesn't?" He grinned, that grin always made everything better.

"It's totally worth it. And anyway, it's only you. I think it's more that there are so many Moroi and dhampirs here; I'm kind of outnumbered."

"I won't let anything happen to you. We're harmless, aside from the blood drinking and the fact that the dhampirs are all pretty badass."

"That makes me feel so much better, Adrian, thanks." He grinned and I shook my head in despair.

We got out of the car and I really saw the beauty of the buildings around me. Many of them closely resembled the buildings that I had seen in Saint Petersburg but there were also some slightly more modern structures mixed in. On my last visit, I hadn't really had the chance to admire the place, but it really was beautiful. Adrian took my hand and led me off into the heart of the Royal Court. The place had many restaurants, shops and residential areas; it was more like a small town than a Royal Court. My boyfriend just happened to be good friends with the Moroi Queen and so we had somehow secured a place, for a short while at least, in Palace Housing. This only made me more nervous though; I might consider Rose a good friend but I had no such attachments to Vasilisa. I was also fully aware that tonight, Adrian would visit his parents and he intended to take me with him.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay here? It's not too late to find a hotel outside of Court." Adrian turned to me as we approached the Palace.

"I'm just nervous," I leant against his chest and his arms immediately wrapped around me. "Not only are the people in there vampires, that's the Queen."

Adrian chuckled. "Don't worry; it's not going to be some kind of formal audience with her. Just a friendly reunion."

"A friendly reunion?" I arched one eyebrow. "Aren't Rose and Dimitri going to be there? I can hardly imagine that being friendly."

Adrian shrugged but didn't respond. I knew that he wasn't still into Rose, wasn't I proof of that? However, she had still broken his heart, he wasn't going to forget that in a hurry, and I was pretty sure that his feelings towards Dimitri hadn't changed. Adrian lifted my head from his chest and pressed his lips to mine. I hadn't gotten past the way that his kisses made me feel. I felt a thrill go through my whole body and leaned closer into him.

"Come on, Sage, time to face the music." Adrian took my hand and led me inside.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Bloodlines or any of the characters.

Please R&R guys, makes me so happy to see what you think. Billie x

* * *

Chapter 2

"Adrian!" A blonde threw herself at Adrian, who proceeded to drop my hand and hug her back. I couldn't believe that we had only been inside for a few minutes and he had already let go of my hand. I also couldn't believe that I was desperate for comfort from a vampire when a group of vampires was the exact reason that I was so nervous.

"Hello, Your Majesty." Adrian chuckled. I had only really seen Vasilisa in photographs and so I had not recognised her from the blur I had seen.

"Adrian," Lissa said, her tone showed disapproval at the way he addressed her. It had never occurred to me that she might not like being Queen, after all her candidacy had only been a ploy to stall the elections and get more time to find evidence that would prove Rose innocent.

Lissa stepped away from Adrian and approached me. I wasn't sure how to react; should I curtsey, shake hands, would she expect _me_ to call her your majesty?

"You must be Sydney." In the end, I didn't have to decide; she embraced me without warning. I hesitated momentarily before returning the hug. "I'm Lissa."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." I smiled, not forgetting my manners; especially in the presence of a monarch.

"Oh, believe me the pleasure is all ours."

"Yeah, we've been wanting to meet the girl who made Adrian Ivashkov settle down." A dark haired guy approached, I had also seen photographs of him and thanks to the fact that I could see his entire face I was able to recognise him as Christian Ozera.

"Well, this is Sydney Sage." Adrian smiled, taking my hand once again.

"It's good to see you." A familiar voice came from a doorway on the other side of the room. Rose Hathaway had just entered the room, followed by a man that I knew Adrian would not be happy to see.

"Rose!" I grinned. I hadn't seen her for a while but Rose had been the first evil creature that I had considered a friend. She had changed my whole perception of her species.

We also hugged, but it was a friendly hug, different to the slightly awkward one that I had just shared with Vasilisa. I glanced across at Adrian, curious to see how he was handling their presence in the room. His face didn't show any anger or upset, but that didn't mean he wasn't feeling it.

"Little dhampir," Adrian said slowly, almost as if testing the words. Then he grinned. "Where's my hug?"

Rose wrapped her arms around Adrian and I could tell that she was relieved by his reaction. She had probably thought the same as me; that Adrian would still be upset about how things had ended between them.

"I still can't believe you guys are together. I mean Sydney, you're dating an evil creature of the night. When I met you, you didn't even want to share a room with me; and I don't drink blood!"

"Thanks for the reminder, Rose." I said, half joking. She had a point but it wasn't something that I liked to dwell on; I usually liked to pretend that my boyfriend didn't need human blood to survive.

"Hello, Sydney," Dimitri said politely. We had met in Palm Springs and he had been very kind but I wouldn't exactly say that we were good friends.

"Hi, Dimitri," I wasn't really sure what else to say and felt a little awkward.

"Hey, is Jill around?" Adrian asked, thankfully rescuing the failing conversation. I shot him a grateful look.

"She's somewhere at Court, yeah. I saw her earlier, I think she had plans with Eddie this afternoon." Christian told him. I knew that Jill admired Christian for his use of magic as a weapon and that as a result the pair had become good friends.

Jill and Eddie; was another thing that had come from our time in Palm Springs. Jill and Eddie had finally become a couple and to top it all off, he had been assigned as her guardian after proving that he was willing to do anything to protect her.

Adrian would no doubt want to see his bondmate and, honestly, I wouldn't have minded seeing Jill and Eddie too.

"Well, my parents are expecting us at eight, so shall I just tell her to meet us here? Is that okay, Lissa?"

"Sure." Lissa smiled.

"Hang on, Adrian, are you taking Sydney to dinner with your parents?" Rose asked, looking a little concerned.

Adrian nodded. Lady Ivashkov had not been out of prison for long and I knew that Adrian was eager to see her. Seeing his mother had seemed like an appropriate time to bring me along to meet his parents. I had already had the "pleasure" of meeting Nathan Ivashkov and had thought him an arrogant, unkind man. That, however, did not matter today; I was going to be kind and civil to my boyfriend's parents.

"Is that a problem?" Adrian asked, as confused by Rose's reaction as I was.

"Have you met his dad before?" The question was directed at me.

"Yeah, once."

"Oh, okay. I was just remembering when I met your parents. Your father is a dick." Rose said bluntly.

Adrian nodded in agreement. "That he is."

"Rose. He's still your father, Adrian." Lissa scolded them both. "Isn't that worth anything?"

"Nope, not really." His tone was casual, as if he didn't really care about his father. I knew that wasn't true though. I had seen his face before and after meeting with Lord Ivashkov. Adrian might pretend otherwise, but I knew that his father's opinion of him did matter. It was something to which I could relate.

Lissa sighed and shook her head in despair. I remembered that her parents had both been killed while she was in high school so she probably felt that parents should be appreciated and not slated.

"Hey, Sydney, do you have something to wear tonight?" Lissa asked me with a polite smile.

"Um," I hesitated, actually thinking about the clothes I actually owned. "That depends how fancy this dinner is going to be."

"Nothing too fancy, just a regular family dinner."

"Ah shit, Adrian," Rose sighed. "Come on, Sydney."

"What? Where?"

"We're going to look for something for you to wear." Rose grabbed my arm and pulled me away from Adrian.

"I'll see you later, I guess." I said to Adrian before I had been fully dragged from the room.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Rose and Lissa took me through to the Queen's bedroom and I was astounded by the beauty of it. The room was large and elegant.

"Wow, is this actually where you live?"

"Weirdly, yes." Lissa laughed. "Four years as the Queen and I am still not used to this lifestyle."

"Didn't you grow up like this though?" I asked legitimately. I didn't know much about Moroi children apart from what Adrian had told me and to be honest it wasn't all to positive aside from the large amounts of money that his family had.

"Oh no, not at all. My parents were rich but they didn't spend all their money on fanciful decorations and expensive accessories. They saved it up and most of it came to me when they died. And anyway, I spent a lot of my time at school which was not this lavish!"

"That's an understatement." Rose muttered, launching herself onto the massive bed. "I like the accommodation, even if she doesn't."

"Yeah, but you don't have to do the job that comes attached to it." Lissa rolled her eyes.

"So, you don't like being Queen?"

"Would you want a ridiculously large responsibility thrown on you without any warning? I was only eighteen when I was made Queen, I wanted to go to college, I had so many plans for my life and they were all thrown away in the blink of an eye." Lissa paused. "I wouldn't say that I don't like it but it's a lot of work and it's pretty crazy!"

"But you get an awesome house, priority for everything and you get to make the laws!" Rose grinned. "Come and feel the bed she gets, it's the best."

I glanced at Lissa, who nodded, and walked towards the bed. I sat down sheepishly and almost screamed when Rose jerked me backwards so I was lying down. I had to admit it was ridiculously soft and I didn't really want to get up again. I had thought that Adrian's bed was soft but this took comfort to a whole new level.

"Wow. This makes Adrian's bed feel like a concrete floor," I said without thinking.

"Oh, yeah?" Rose sat up, grinning. "Do tell, Sydney!"

I blushed at what I had said, but I knew that there was no way back as Lissa had now joined us on the bed.

"What is there to say?"

"Sydney, you just admitted to having been in Adrian's bed and you aren't exactly the type of girl to jump into bed with everyone so it's pretty major."

I knew that I was usually the reserved, good girl type and I felt weird just having this conversation. "Everything's different with Adrian. Hell, I eat sugar when I'm with him!"

Lissa looked confused but Rose looked honestly surprised. She knew how I felt about large amounts of sugar and so realised the enormity of the statement.

"Am I missing something?"

"She doesn't like sugary foods, she used to avoid them like the plague."

"Ooh, Sydney, that sounds serious." Lissa laughed.

"I think it is," I said simply.

"He feels the same way, you know. He's crazy about you."

"I know." I smiled to myself. Adrian had told me so many times just how crazy he was about me but it felt nice for someone else to recognise it.

"I wish I could see your auras. They must burn so brightly when you're together." She sounded a little sad as she spoke and I remembered reading something about her being on meds to cut off the magic and stop spirit driving her crazy. I had realised that it might be uncomfortable or upsetting for her to be distanced from the magic. I knew a little about auras from what Adrian had told me but I was a little confused by this.

"Auras light up vividly when you are with the person you love." Rose explained for me. She then smiled to herself and looked a little distant; no doubt hers shined around a certain Russian.

"Anyway, all this boy talk isn't getting your outfit sorted, is it?" Lissa said, bringing both Rose and me back to the real world.

"No, but it's fun." Rose grinned.

"What size do you wear, Sydney?"

"A two usually, unless you're Mrs Delaney." I muttered the second part under my breath but the girls still heard me.

"Okay, I have a mix of twos and fours so there should be something that fits." Lissa smiled. I knew that she was trying to be nice and make a joke about Amberwood's uniform supplier but instead I felt a little hurt that she thought I might need the size four.

We rummaged through the excessively large wardrobe and I tried several things on which all looked lovely but I wasn't sure about any of them.

"This is the one." I had just put on a purple taffeta dress. It was quite tight across my upper body, but that wasn't something that bothered me as much as it used to, and then crinkled from my waist down to just above my knee. I knew that Adrian loved it when I wore purple and so wanted to wear this one for him.

"It looks great," Lissa said. "It actually looks better on you than it ever did on me."

"I can hardly believe that," I replied. I had to admit though, it did look rather nice.

"It's true. You can keep it if you want."

"Oh, no! I couldn't possibly do that."

"Why not?"

"Because you're the Queen and this is your dress."

"I'm the Queen and hundreds of designers would jump at the chance if I wanted another hundred exact replicas of the dress. And anyway, like I said, it looks better on you."

"She's right, Sydney, it looks amazing." Rose grinned.

I looked at myself in the mirror for a little while longer, maybe I could keep it without feeling like a royal thief.

"Your Majesty, Princess Jillian has arrived." A new voice announced. I jumped in surprised and turned to see a footman standing in the doorway.

"Thank you, John, Lord Ozera will accept her." The man retreated with a bow and Lissa turned to me a chuckle. "You get used to it eventually. But when they say there's no privacy, they really do mean it!"

I laughed as I began to remove the dress so that we could go and see Jill.

"Sydney, I can't believe you are here, at Court!"

"Or in the Royal Palace!" I welcomed the presence of someone that I knew well. Whilst I considered Rose a good friend and thought Dimitri was a gentleman, I felt incredibly awkward in front of the Queen and Christian. Jill was also the queen's sister and so her presence made me feel a whole lot more comfortable.

"That too." Jill grinned. "How have you been?"

"Like you need to ask," I joked, thinking about the bond she shared with Adrian.

"I've been doing better at keeping out of his head, he's still happy to see you but he's not always quite so ecstatic when you're around!" Jill laughed.

I wasn't sure whether to be happy that Jill was no longer viewing everything that happened between us or to be disappointed that my boyfriend wasn't always excited to see me.

"She's wrong you know, I still love it every time you show up!" Adrian stepped forward and slipped his arms around my waist from behind.

"Oh, Sydney, I didn't mean..."

"I know, it's fine, Jill."

There was a moment's awkward silence and I caught the pair of them giving each other meaningful looks as if having a conversation through the bond despite its one sidedness. I glanced around the room and saw someone that I hadn't yet noticed.

"Eddie!" I spotted the sandy haired boy standing a little way across the room, talking to Rose. "I was beginning to wonder where you were."

I left Jill and Adrian to have their silent conversation and walked across the room where Eddie welcomed me with a grin. After all the years that we had pretended to be twins, I really did think of Eddie as a brother, especially when I had lost most contact with my own family.

"Sydney," he said brightly. "I'm glad you finally showed up!"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean it would be nice to know what's going on in your life without it being secondhand information from my girlfriend's spirit bond. You never call!"

"Sorry." I mumbled. "I don't really have a decent excuse either."

"Oh, come here." Eddie laughed and pulled me into a bear hug.

"I've missed you, Eddie." I mumbled into his shoulder.

"So what are we doing?" Jill asked animatedly, clearly having finished whatever conversation it was with Adrian.

I turned to look at her and she had a look on her face that was just as excited as her tone of voice.

"We have got to show Sydney Court! I mean it's not everyday we get people who have never been before."

"True, but we have a few days before Adrian and I go back to Palm Springs."

"You could always just stay here?" Jill suggested. "Move?"

"And leave all of our stuff back in the flat?" I pointed out.

"Huh, good point. But we're all here!"

"Jill-" I struggled to find something to say. I was afraid of moving to Court but I didn't really want to say that in front of everyone.

"That's something Sydney and I need to talk about." Adrian stressed the personal pronouns and thankfully convinced Jill to drop it.

"So a tour of Court?" Rose asked, attempting to relieve some of the awkwardness.

"Sounds great." I grinned. Although slightly scared of the residents, I couldn't deny being curious to see the Moroi Court.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"This is guest housing. A lot of people stay here when they're just visiting Court." Jill pointed to a large building.

"If they don't know the Queen, that is." Adrian joked.

"I only invite special friends to stay." Lissa laughed.

"Aw, did you hear that, Sage? We're special friends!" Adrian grinned happily.

"I heard." I smiled at Adrian in the way you would smile at a three year old introducing you to their pet unicorn. Sometimes it was best to humour him.

We walked past a group of Moroi and dhampir teenagers who were talking and laughing loudly. The noise was quickly replaced by silence as we passed. At first I assumed it was because they had noticed their Queen, but when I followed their gaze it didn't lead to Lissa. I found myself under scrutiny, the group were all examining the laced fingers that joined Adrian and me.

I blushed and looked at my feet, my hair falling in front of my face. I moved closer to Adrian, leaning into his shoulder, an action which was soon followed by a possessive arm snaking around my shoulders.

"You okay?" He said in a low voice so that no one else would hear.

I didn't respond except with a slight nod of my head. Not that Adrian believed me, somehow he always knew when I was lying. He glanced at the group of teens and saw their harsh looks before tightening his arm around my shoulder.

"I don't care what they think."

"I know." I smiled, but it was half-hearted.

"So who wants to grab a drink?" Jill asked. We were apparently now standing outside a small cafe and I recognised the name from some of Jill and Eddie's stories. They thought it was excellent and served some great milkshakes.

"Sure," Adrian said, glancing at Lissa and Rose, who both nodded.

"I need to get back after though," Lissa grimaced. "Royal duties."

"Well then, if the rest of my afternoon has to spent watching you do paperwork then a coffee is most definitely in order."

"You don't have to watch, Rose, I have multiple other guardians. Why don't you and Dimitri take the rest of the day off?"

"I don't like that you think your other guardians are as capable as me!" We all laughed at Rose's comment as we sat down at a large table in the cafe.

I ordered a large coffee and, to appease him, I agreed to share a plate of chips with Adrian.

We sat chatting for a little while before I excused myself to use the bathroom. The place was empty when I entered but I soon heard a couple of other girls follow me in.

"Who is she anyway?" One girl said.

"She looked human." I froze just before leaving the cubicle, were they talking about me?

"Probably got his own feeder, although I don't see why he should get one when the rest of us aren't allowed."

"He knows the Queen personally. He's probably using the girl for sex as well. She's no doubt some kind of human blood whore. You know what Adrian is like."

Well, that confirmed it; people at Court thought I was a blood whore.

"Well, he does like scandalous relationships, remember that Hathaway girl? You know, the one who guards the queen now; they dated for a while. Not that it ended well." The girl paused. "Maybe he thinks it impresses whoever he has lined up next?"

I considered waiting until they had left but I decided not to be a coward and confidently, with my head held high, exited the cubicle. I smiled politely at the girls whose eyes widened as they realised their mistake before washing my hands and leaving the bathroom without a word.

"Everything alright?" Adrian asked when I returned. Perhaps I had spent some time listening in on the conversation.

"Yeah, just heard some interesting gossip is all."

"Oh yeah?"

"Apparently, I am a blood whore. And you enjoy scandalous relationships." Adrian's eyes widened and he put his arms around me.

"You know it's not true, right? I love you for you, Sage. Because you are smart, beautiful, sexy, amazing."

I shivered and smiled brightly, it always made me feel so great when he said stuff like that. "I know. I love you too."

Adrian leaned down to me and pressed his lips against mine. I think he had just intended a sweet gentle touch but I was interested in more. I gently opened his mouth with my own and slid my tongue inside. Adrian didn't object, he simply pulled me tighter to his chest.

"Get a room, you two!" Someone laughed and we pulled apart. My cheeks reddened but Adrian relaxed into a grin and leant back against the seat, keeping his arm around me.

Eventually, Lissa had to get back to work. Being queen was a job you never got time off from, she said. We wandered around for a short while longer before Jill disappeared with Eddie. They left with Jill giving some ridiculous excuse that was obviously made up. I guess there is one good thing about your boyfriend having a spirit bond; Jill knows when we want some time alone.

"About what Jill was saying earlier..." Adrian began but he didn't seem to know how to continue.

"Eventually, we are probably going to live here. I know that, Adrian."

"Not necessarily. We could always stay in Palm Springs." Adrian grimaced slightly as he spoke. I knew he hadn't meant to but I was glad that the emotion had slipped through because he showed his real opinion, the one he wasn't so willing for me to hear.

"Of course, I forgot how much you loved the sun, the human hours and the excessive heat," I said sarcastically.

"And I forgot how much you loved being around vampires!"

"Adrian, I can deal with it."

"But I don't want you to have to."

"And you would rather live somewhere that affected your health?"

"Yes," Adrian said matter-of-factly and I couldn't help but smile. He would rather live in a place where he was permanently uncomfortable than make me unhappy. I had to admit it was kind of romantic.

"As much as I love you for that, I guess in some ways, I do want to live here. I mean, our friends are here, your family, your species."

"I wish you wouldn't say that, you make me feel like an animal."

"I'm sorry, Adrian." I squeezed his hand tighter but didn't say anything else as we walked.


End file.
